Letters
by alliejgk
Summary: Clark's reply to Chloe's 'Fever' letter.
1. Chapter 1

When Chloe Sullivan walked into the Watchtower that evening the first thing she saw was the sealed white envelope left propped against her computer. Seeing as she was the only one with a key, she was slightly perplexed as to who could have left it there. Her mind drifted through all the possibilities, after all, she was accustomed to the strange and unexplained. She had several superhero friends, all of whom she hadn't seen in three weeks though, since her husband's funeral to be exact. Moving swiftly on from this painful memory she picked up the envelope for closer inspection. It was simply addressed '_Chloe'; _however she definitely recognised the hand writing. It belonged to her best friend Clark Kent. Well, he had been her best friend; in all honesty, she wasn't really sure where she stood with him now. Just after her husband- Jimmy's- funeral, he walked out on her informing her that "Clark Kent was dead." She understood why, he was distancing himself from her and everyone else so he could leave to start his training. You see, Clark wasn't your average Kansas farm boy; he was one of her aforementioned super hero friends. Clark was particularly different though, because he was an alien- Kryptonian if you want to know the technical term. He also had a giant ice fortress in the arctic which held all the knowledge of his race, just waiting for him to 'accept his destiny' so it could be downloaded into him. Chloe understood perfectly why he left, it was just sucky timing. She'd always been there for him, helping him, consoling him, and just when she needed him most he'd 'turned tail and run'. Seeing as he hadn't bothered to stop by and see her in the past three weeks, she can't have been a pressing concern for him, why did he need to leave her a letter? An apology maybe? That was always Clark's style- do it in a way that made him least vulnerable. She guessed it came from years of having to protect his secret from the world, which must leave you a little worse for wear. Now too intrigued to stop, she opened the letter which read;

'_I want to let you in on a secret.... I'm not who you think I am. I'm the boy who was too blind to see how amazing you are. I'm the boy who is hiding behind excuses and the boundary of friendship. Right now I want to rip off this facade, but I can't, because you've moved on and I'm too scared that you'll reject me. So I've decided to carry on hiding, because living with the lie may be painful, but it's softer than your dismissal. I'm a coward. I may have been confused in the past, my judgement clouded by girls I grew out of, but now everything is clear. I think there are also two types of boy; the ones you discard because they simply aren't worthy and the ones you grant a second chance, the ones you take a risk on. I really hope I'm the latter. I may not be the one you love today, but I'll keep you in my heart, forever wishing I could have flown to you faster. And if you ever chose to forgive me, I will be here waiting; waiting to love you more than any girl has been loved before- because I think you're worth the wait.'"_


	2. Chapter 2

Clark Kent stood there silently watching her sleeping form. She was clutching his letter, but he didn't let that give him hope because he could still see the red tear stains that marred her perfect face. He could watch her forever, he thought; pained by the fact that watch was all he would probably ever be able to do. He'd been watching her all evening after all, x-raying the building and watching her pace back and forth for hours, before eventually exhausting herself. Now his dream girl lay in front of him, immersed in her own dreams. He wanted more than anything to be able to see what she was dreaming about. Was she dreaming about him? Or maybe about better times- as he liked to- times that were far less complicated than the hours of today. He blissfully remembered their high school days, where the most stressful thing was a missed homework or the occasional misguided meteor freak.

He finally roused himself from his trance and went to leave, but a small voice stopped him in his tracks. He hadn't noticed that Chloe had awoken- but he had to admit- when he was lost in thoughts of her, he wasn't aware of much else.

"You don't have to leave Clark." She said a little throatily.

"I, umm... I should get back to my patrol." He replied, with a less than true excuse- Ollie and Bart were also on patrol tonight and she knew that as well as he did.

"Was there something you wanted to say? Or did you just pop into my bedroom for a quick rest?" He had to laugh at her sarcasm; it always lifted him out of the glummest of moods. He wished he knew where to start, how to explain what drove him to write the letter in the first place, but he usually took his clues on this sort of thing from her. It appeared she wasn't going to give him any, so he took a deep breath before saying;

"I'm sorry if I've complicated your life in any way Chloe, I just wanted you to know. I had to let you know."

"You're always complicating my life Clark." She said under her breath, but she knew he would hear- he heard everything after all.

Clark was taken aback, he never thought she resented him for the burden of his secret- but he supposed it wouldn't be too far of a stretch. He vividly remembered seeing her in another life, a carefree life, a life without him. "Maybe I should just get going then." He trailed off.

"Come on Clark, you know I didn't mean it like that, It's just... well you have to admit, you cause quite a lot of complicated situations." She gave a weary chuckle and he nodded in agreement. Chloe continued in a voice even quieter than before, "But I wouldn't change anything, I wouldn't remove from my life for anything." She looked up at him hopefully and he couldn't control the beaming grin that broke across his face. He had to compose himself before continuing, he wanted her to believe his words, and he didn't want her to make a joke out of him this time.

"My life wouldn't be worth living if you weren't a part of it Chloe." And in that moment he knew there was nothing else he could say, this was the make-or-break moment, she could either break his heart or take it for her own. However, she delayed her verdict with more questions, must be the reporter in her he thought ruefully.

"Why did you write that letter Clark? I mean, I get that you wanted to get it off your chest, but why now?"

"I'm losing you, I can tell." She looked away from him ashamedly. "No, don't look like that Chlo, it's my fault- hell, it's always my fault. But I really screwed up this time and I realised if I didn't tell you how I felt now I'd never have the chance. You would be out of my life for good and you'd never know why I pushed you away, you'd never know why I hurt you."

"Clark..."

"Just let me say it Chlo, we both know I hurt you when I walked away and it was stupid and selfish of me, but it was physically tearing me up inside to see you in so much pain, so I cut and run. I regret it with all of my heart, because I love you, and you should never abandon the people- person you love."

"Do you mean it Clark? I can't quite bring myself to wholly believe you. It's just, I've exposed myself to you so many times in the past, given you my heart, and all you ever do is break it. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if I can do it again. Are you sure this isn't something you've exaggerated because you want my forgiveness? Because I can give you my forgiveness Clark, but I can't give you my love unless you're sure you can give yours back to me."

"I love you with every fibre of my being Chloe. I think on some level I always have- you're the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of before I fall asleep. You're the only thing in this world that I want to fight for, I honestly don't know if I'd bother to save the world if you weren't in it."

At this she practically ran into his embrace, she moved so swiftly he could have sworn she went into super speed. He would have asked her but every corner of his mind was absorbed with Chloe, how she felt in his arms, the way she smelt, the feel of her tears falling onto his chest. This moment was perfection and he wanted it to go on forever. Unfortunately for him, she pulled away slightly and he moaned slightly at the loss of contact. She looked up into his eyes, snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss that set in stone their feelings for one another. Chloe broke off and started trailing kisses up his jaw line before pausing at his ear and whispering;

"Looks like I'll never be able to resist that Kent charm."

"Never?"

"Never, you're my weakness Clark."

"And you're mine." He admitted, realising for the first time that no matter what happened Chloe was his greatest weakness, his greatest strength and the sole holder of his heart.


End file.
